Jamie George to captain England in Owen Farrell's absence - report
Saracens hooker Jamie George is set to be named England captain tomorrow when head coach Steve Borthwick announces his squad for the Guinness Six Nations, The Telegraph have reported.
The 89-cap England international will replace his Saracens teammate Owen Farrell, who has stepped down from England duty for the foreseeable future for personal reasons.
Since Farrell made the announcement in November, plenty of names have been mooted as candidates to fill the captaincy void.
Typically Courtney Lawes has captained England when the flyhalf has been unavailable, but the Northampton Saints star retired from rugby after the World Cup. Tom Curry has led England in the past as well, but is out of the Six Nations with a hip injury. Ellis Genge has captained England during Steve Borthwick’s tenure, against France last year, but is also struggling with a hamstring injury and is fighting to be fit for the start of the Championship.
George, who also has three British & Irish Lions caps, is not only one of the most experienced players Borthwick has to choose from, but is crucially likely to start. Having said that, The Telegraph have also reported that George’s long standing competitor for the England No2 jersey, Luke Cowan-Dickie, is set to return to the set-up after missing the World Cup with a neck issue.
Speaking on RugbyPass TV recently, George, 33, said that he does not blame Farrell for taking time out of Test rugby, whilst also describing him as the best player to have ever played for England.
“You know, I know how much it means to him to play for England,” he said.
“He’s given his life and soul to that team. But then when I reflect on it as a mate, going through what he’s had to go through, I don’t blame him for doing what he’s done.
“He’s had such a hard time, and he just needs a bit of time to work some stuff out. And I am incredibly proud, first and foremost as a mate. – he’s one of my closest mates – of him for doing this because of how much I know it means to him to play for England.
“But he’s putting himself first, he’s putting his family first and he’s got an amazing family, he’s got two great kids, he’s got an amazing wife. He’s really, really close with his other family also. It was really tough to see. It was really tough to hear.
“I spoke to him in depth before it was announced and he sort of gave me his reasons as to why and… I don’t blame him, mate, I really don’t blame him because of the heat that he was getting from the media stuff internally, the social media stuff, that he didn’t really read too much of. But as a player, you know, it’s there. You get booed by home fans…
“He is one of the greats of our game. He is probably, if not the best player to have ever played rugby for England and in my opinion, and he’s my mate, so I’m going to say this, but I genuinely believe it. I think that he is probably one of the best sports people that England has ever produced. I’m talking, like, across all sports in terms of his leadership, how much he’s given to the game, how he’s transformed a team, his longevity in the game.
“He was 21 years old when he first played and you look at him now and he’s grown and matured a huge amount, but yet he’s sort of almost seen in a negative light sometimes and I find that really difficult. I’ve really struggled to get my head around it and look, I hope this time away from it now is going to be good for him. I know that it will be.
“I know that he’s going to be able to sort of switch off from it all and get away from it all. And it’s important for him. Ultimately, the most important thing is for him to get himself right and work some stuff out and we’re all going to be behind him and give everything that we can to make sure that he is all right.
“And actually, why can’t we just be a little bit nicer to people? Because Owen should be considered one of the best players to have ever played the game. And yet here he is taking some time out because of all the heat that he’s getting. It just doesn’t sit well with me.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
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